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Mayor Jaworsky says this is a big relief for anyone that works, or visits, the uptown core frequently.

“We want to maintain two hour free parking in Uptown Waterloo, but we also want to make it easy for people to stay longer. So that’s why we went with Smart City Technology – a mobile app that you put on your phone which allows you extend, as needed, your stay in Uptown.”

Jaworksy says he believes the City of Waterloo is the perfect partner for ‘Honk’.

“The Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor is so important – so having a Toronto company to partner with, is just awesome. It makes it easier for us all to work, and visit, the Uptown core. Parking is so important as we’re going to have LRT, cyclists, pedestrians — but the reality is that some people will still come by car, and this just makes it easier for everyone.”

Meantime, Michael Back is founder and CEO of ‘Honk Mobile’ and says it was an exciting day for everyone.

“This is such a vibrant area, and people want to stay longer than two hours — so the City wanted to come up with a way to let people stay, earn revenue for the City, but also keep cars moving. So ‘Honk’ comes in, so that you pay for parking, your two hours of free parking still exists, and if you want to stay longer, you just register and pay through the app.”

Back says they accept every payment option – including Apple Pay, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

“Our belief is anybody should be able to pay any way they want to. By-law officers will have an enforcement app which will feature all the Honk Mobile information, so it’s really simple and easy for everyone involved.”

Back adds that Honk Mobile is aggressively expanding across Canada, and they’ll continue to approach municipalities.

“Waterloo is the first City in North America to take this mobile-only approach, and we hope that just continues to grow. So happy honking, Waterloo Region!”